Upside Down
by OdeToLife
Summary: One-shot. Troyella. Gabriella analyzes her life as a singer as a few things happen and everything changes. My first attempt to write.lol


**So...I decided to write this a while ago, but I never really did it. I always imagined Gabriella as a famous singer, so I thought I needed to figure out how her life would be if she really was a singer. Sorry if it's too random, it's the first time I'm writing.**

**I really hope you like it, 'cause I had tons of fun writing it. I'd love to get reviews...I mean, it's so easy. You just have to click on that cute link in the end and tell me what you think!!! That would be great.**

**Disclaimer: As you all know, I do not own High School Musical, nor Gabriella Montez, nor Troy Bolton, nor anything you are able to recognize. I only own the characters/places you've never heard of. **

* * *

My life totally sucks. And people all around the world still _dare_ to think I'm the happiest person ever. Well, I used to be. When I was just a student, just one more teenager in high school, I could be considered the happiest person alive. I had everything it supposedly takes to have a perfect life: great family, amazing friends, almost-perfect health, enough money, good grades and the love of my freaking life.

Yep, I said _had_. In the past. Since I became a singer, my world turned upside down. I barely see my parents (or anyone else from my family, for that matter) anymore, since my schedule is way too full. I get so busy dealing with my new life I did not keep in touch with my old friends, which means now I'm forced into calling all those fake Hollywood stars friends. I get sick every now and then, because my career takes too much of my energy away. I have way more money than a human being needs to live, which makes me want to throw up (I feel terribly bad for having so much while so many people have nothing, so I decided to donate three quarters of my money and I'm really proud of myself for that). I'm obviously not a high school student anymore (I'm 22, for Pete's sake) and I never got to enter college at all (and I was a freaky little genius when younger, so that is really weird). You may ask: what about the sacred love of your life? Yeah, ask that and you deserve a punch on your freaking ugly face (ops, sorry, I exploded here, I just miss him _so_ much). I mean, I think it's pretty obvious we're not together anymore, or else my mood would be...better. And you wonder: 'How come she managed to push away her so-called love?'. We'll get there later.

The other day, I was at the after-party of this new movie's premiere with other actors, singers and people like that. Some strange guy I've never heard of came and stood beside me, saying he was an up-and-coming star and wanted some advice on how to manage fame. Oh man. Do you imagine? I've been holding my secret sadness inside for so long that I couldn't help but tell him everything (yes, I am sure he wasn't any new star, he was probably in need of some money and sold all the things I said to some maganize. No, I don't give a damn). I told him how amazing my life used to be before all this madness (I didn't give details, nor did he ask for them), how much I missed my past, how I wished I could turn back time. He only asked one thing. One question, and still that was all I could think about for weeks. 'Why did you lose everything you loved?'

The answer? I figured it out a few days after the party: I decided to follow my so-called dreams and became Gabriella Montez, the living image of power. I think I really did scare everyone off of my life when I turned into someone else, someone new. Because singer Gabriella Montez is so different from person Gabriella Montez....I mean, that is kind of obvious, since _singer_ has such a different meaning from _person_. A person is a lot more than just a singer...and when my career was just beginning I ditched the rest of my 'person' and became just a 'singer'. Yes, that was the turning point.

But what do you do? What do you do when the only thing you want is to go back to what you were before? When you regret everything you've been doing for the past years? When you just want to pretend nothing happened while you were not yourself? Because I truly believe this whole stardom thing caused me to have an out-of-body experience during the past years. Yes, really, do NOT call me crazy. I was known, in my teenage years, for being kind to everyone, even those who didn't deserve it. In my first years as Gabriella Montez, the singer, though, I was a bitch. Yes, you read it right. I acted bitchy to every single living soul that approached me. I felt like it was the only way to protect myself from the cruel people existent in show-business. Thank God I came back to my old self a while later. And it was because of him...

The first (and last) time I met him after we broke up (the break-up happened right after graduation, when he realized I would do anything to sing, even if that had to do with leaving him) was at Starbucks, in Los Angeles. What was he doing there? I have no idea, I never got to ask (of course not, I didn't even get to talk to him). We were both in line to pay, me being in front so I couldn't possibly see him (he most likely saw me first but didn't want to even look at my face). Two girls around thirteen years old ran towards me, giggling. I saw them before they got to me, and cursed under my breath. Yep, crap, he heard it, and gasped. That's when I turned around to look at whoever was paying attention at me and saw his shocked face. I could read him like a book (I still can), so I could see he thought any celebrity would be thrilled to have fans recognizing them at the streets. Ha, yeah, not when we're in a bad mood, honey. The girls asked for autographs and pictures, and I had to agree (come on, there were paparazzi outside, I had to at least pretend I was happy to meet them). Then I paid and looked behind to find he was ignoring me. But no, it wasn't easy for him, I could see it hurt him to see who I had become. And it was right there that I noticed for the first time how I needed to change the way I acted towards people. Thanks to Troy Bolton, I left the bitch behind and rescued the sweet and generous Gabriella from her prison.

Here I stand now, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for nothing, counting on no one.

* * *

Damn. I wish I could say I can't believe it, but I can. Sure, I changed, I'm a good person now, but Troy doesn't know that. Last time he saw me I was going through that whole experience envolving my soul out of my body, I think you recall that one.

Once upon a time, me and Troy promised each other our love would last forever. My part of it is still here with me, I still love him to death after all. But cry for me if you're a sensitive person, he's got a new girlfriend. After so many years, he has a girlfriend! That means he moved on, right? I mean, if he didn't, then he's using someone and that is so not Troy.

I was watching TV this morning and BAM. Lakers' player Troy Bolton is dating actress Chloe Jones. Blonde bitch Chloe Jones, one of my fake friends. She's so nice I can't stand her. But it seems like Troy doesn't feel the same as me. Troy and Chloe. Chloe and Troy. To hell with those two.

* * *

Oh God, I'm dating. Chill, it's not for real. For once, I'm doing something exclusively for my reputation. We're calling each other girlfriend and boyfriend, but it's only publicity. Holy shit. This is _so_ something I shouldn't do. I don't even know how I ended up agreeing to do it, anyway. I think...a part of me is really hoping for Troy to be jealous. I mean, I know he's with that Chloe girl and all, but he has to still have feelings for me. You don't understand, he HAS to. What we feel for each other should never end, so obviously he still loves me in some way. Consequently, he will be jealous as soon as he hears I'm with gorgeousness itself, Zac Efron.

OK, I know what you're thinking. I can hear you screaming desperately: 'What about Vanessa Hudgens? Huh? What about their oh-so-perfect relationship?'. BAH. You're so boring, darling. But just so you can keep on being a happy person, they did not break up. Zac and Vanessa are still together, but only their closest friends know that (screw them for being able to make real friends in show-business, what do they have that I don't?). For the rest of the world, 'Zanessa' is over and Zac Efron is officially dating Gabriella Montez. How pathetic is that? I can't even tell you why this is good for my career, because I don't know. Just ask my manager if you're curious about that. HA, as if you could possibly convince his secretary to let you see him. Or talk to him on the phone. Or mail him (she controls his email account, his MySpace and his life, for that matter). Right, enough about my manager. You possibly don't even care about him. Damn you.

Me and Zac went on our first date yesterday: dinner at some new restaurant called **Kliko's (A/N: totally made up)**. Tomorrow is the premiere of a new movie of his, called 'Anywhere'. Guess who is his co-star? I'm clapping for you if you said the devil's name: Chloe Jones. Yes, exactly. She will be there. Who knows who is gonna be her date? _Raises hand_. That extremely handsome basketball player who happens to be the one guy that hasn't been out of my mind for even one minute during the past years. Troy. DUH.

I so wish we could just forget everything and hook up right there at the after-party...that would be possible, since it'll be private (no stupid people taking pictures) and Vanessa will go there (hidden from the paparazzi) to meet Zac later. While they do their thing, I could do mine with Troy...right? No, wrong. Very wrong. Troy is taken; t-a-k-e-n. That word couldn't possibly hurt me more than it is currently hurting. Ouch.

I can't stop daydreaming about tomorrow night. Zac noticed how nervous I was, and he laughed at me. He's a good guy...maybe I'll finally make a friend in this crazy world.

Crazy world...sometimes it hits me. Why the hell do we live? Maybe we'd be just fine as little angels flying all over the sky...but then the sky would be overcrowded, and that would suck. I think that's why we live: God doesn't have another place to send us to. Maybe. Or maybe I really just need to see a psychologist.

* * *

Here it goes. Gabriella Montez presents: The Night Troy Bolton Finally Talked To Me After All This Time.

There is one thing you need to know about red carpets: they are scary. It doesn't matter how many times you walk it, the feeling never really goes away. Just one look at all those crazed fans and that's it, all you want to do is run away to a deserted beach...or just go back home and hide from all the screaming people in the world.

As you can see, I was never a huge fan of red carpets. I try to make things go as fast as possible. I always thought the craziest thing ever is a red carpet. Boy, was I wrong. The craziest thing ever is a red carpet surrounded by Zac Efron's fans. And worse: they were angry. Of course, they were in total denial. I mean, it took them seven years to get used to Vanessa (long, long time, I don't know why Zac doesn't tell everybody I'm not his real girlfriend and just marry Vanessa to get it over with). Now they are very mad Zanessa is over, as anyone could tell they would. Fortunately, they all love me too (Gabriella Montez is a major name nowadays), so they kind of liked the idea of me and Zac together when they saw us taking pictures. I'm not going to deny it, we look really cute side by side. He's a great actor, he looked at me as if I was his new world (I look like Vanessa a lot, so maybe he was just pretending I was her). I totally went for it as soon as I saw Troy and Chloe walking up in our direction. We looked like the perfect lovebirds. I swear I got a hint of jealousy when I looked into Troy's dazzling blue eyes.

Everybody then settled down to watch the movie, and I hate to say this: Chloe did a freaking great job. Zac too, of course, but I already knew about him. I was hoping Chloe would be a horrible actress. Damn.

I think I mentioned before how she and I are 'friends', and it seems like she considers me a real friend. As soon as she saw me, she squealed and ran to me, jumping up and down. There were a lot of people there, so I couldn't just ignore her. I played along, we hugged, told each other how much we missed our girls' days out, how we needed to hang out more often. And then she decided to introduce me to her oh-so-loved boyfriend. There you have how it went:

"Oh, Gabriella, you have to meet my boyfriend. You're gonna love him, I bet you two could be the greatest of friends!"

I tensed up, but before she could notice it I laughed. Of course, since Zac was standing by my side, he felt it and asked in a whisper what was wrong. I shook my head, shrugging it off.

"Troy, these are Zac Efron and Gabriella Montez. Zac, Gabi, this is Troy Bolton."

Since Zac didn't know I knew Chloe, he looked surprised.

"You know each other?"

Chloe made me the favor of answering.

"Well, we met each other when Gabi first became a singer, and she was so afraid of the show-business she was a bitch." I chuckled, since I knew it was true. "But then, two years later, we met again and she was totally different. We talked and became friends, and after this we started seeing each other some times. But we should hang out more often, we have so much fun together!"

In that moment, I realized she really considered me a friend. If she wasn't dating the one guy I should be with, I'd feel great, call her everyday and tell her my secrets.

Right then, though, I was too busy examining Troy's face. He looked so perfect...and when he heard Chloe saying I changed, his eyes lit up and I could see hope in them. Yes, oh my God, he still loves me. YAY!

As Zac and Chloe continued to talk, I felt Zac's right arm be placed around my waist. I looked around and saw some people we were supposed to pretend in front of, so I understood why he did it. But Troy, oh Troy, he didn't know anything, he thought Zac was holding me because he wanted to, because he was my boyfriend, because we really liked each other. Dumb Troy.

He wasn't even trying to hide his jealousy, since obviously nobody there could see it. Nobody but me, and I kept staring at his face (no one noticed) to try and make him realize we were just pretending. He wouldn't look at me, he couldn't take his eyes off of Zac's arm, but I insisted so much he looked up.

When we stared into each other's eyes, the connection was so strong I only didn't fall backwards because of Zac's hold on me. I could tell Troy was feeling it too, shivers rolling down our spines. There we stood, showing each other once again how huge our love was, and it felt so good. Deep in his eyes, I could see he was just dating Chloe for publicity. Deep in my eyes, he could see I was just dating Zac for publicity. Realization dawned over us at the same time, and it was too obvious we only wanted one another.

I could hear Zac and Chloe laughing.

"Yes, that's totally true, Zac. Hey, don't we have a table or something?"

"Yup, it's right over there."

"Oh, OK. Troy, shall we get to the table? Troy? Gabriella?"

Oh, we could care less about her. But she was intently paying attention to us.

"Have you guys ever met before?"

Troy laughed a sick laugh. "If we ever met before? Oh, yeah, we did."

"Why did you laugh like that?"

"Life's complicated."

All eyes turned to me. Yes, very strange, I know, I hadn't said nothing, I hadn't done nothing, I was just there and still all three of them looked at me like I had said something fascinating. Troy looked anxious to get to know the new me, Zac looked surprised that me and Troy knew each other and Chloe looked very, very curious. I had to say something.

"We should sit down."

Talk about awkward.

Thank God for helping me out and sending a gift, AKA Bradley Stones. I wasn't sane enough to find it weird that Bradley Stones was hanging at the after-party of a movie which had absolutely nothing to do with him. I mean, he works in SonyBMG (**A/N: don't own)**. As soon as the other three people in my table took notice of him, he showed his extremely white teeth in a huge smile, a special gift to Chloe. Wait, why would Bradley Stones smile at Chloe Jones? I didn't know they had met, I mean, I worked with him once, but I am a singer and Chloe's an actress. And then it hit me: duh, he's her boyfriend. Her real boyfriend, unlike a certain basketball player.

Bradley shook hands with Troy as if they had always known each other, then kissed the top of Chloe's head. I sighed in relief and smiled (so there it was, the truth: Troy and Chloe are not really together!), which made Troy smirk at me. Then Bradley looked around to see if he knew anybody and his eyes landed on me.

"Gabriella! It's been centuries, girl! It's amazingly incredible how people totally forget the ones who made their albums get to the number one! I never got one call, huh?"

"Hey, I thanked you on the CD cover. Isn't that enough for you?" I joked.

He laughed. "Oh well, if that's all I'm gonna get, at least it's something, right?"

"Whoa, that's what I call turning into someone else! What happened to good old Brad who never gave up on what he wanted?"

"You kinda learn new things when you grow up. I missed you, Gabi. We should organize a group meeting with all those folks from the past."

"Absolutely. Still have my number?"

"I don't believe so, I changed my cell so I lost everyone's numbers. Yes, I know, you can call me dumb."

"Dumb."

Chloe giggled. "It's not a problem that you lost her phone number, baby. I have it, hold on one minute." And she started searching for her cell phone in her purse.

OK, I was shocked. How come Chloe Jones has my number? Last time we talked was...in January! It's freaking September now! I don't think I have her number, I mean, why would I?

I suddenly felt hot breath warming my ear and then heard Zac whisper:

"I'm sorry, but we can't be as open as Troy and Chloe about our relationship being fake. Those guys are still right over there. Vanessa gave up on coming, she's waiting for me at my house already. Maybe we could go earlier, if that's OK with you. Just like...half an hour earlier." I nodded. It wasn't a problem to me, I just had to stay there long enough to talk to Troy. Difficult was finding a way to do that, but fate seemed to be on my side. An old man approached us with a huge smile planted on his lips.

"Zac! Chloe! Congratulations, you two! You were wonderful!"

"Thanks, Jeremy."

"Zac, my man, there's a little something I have to talk to you about. Could you give me the honor of a private conversation?"

"Sure." He then turned to me, trying to tell me something with his eyes. It took me one second to realize this Jeremy guy was supposed to think we were really together. I nodded once, and I was prepared enough not to be surprised when, as he stood up, he planted a kiss on the top of my head. I smiled up at him, then at Jeremy.

That's when Chloe and Brad also stood up and, giggling, ran to the back room. And Troy did what I thought he'd only do if I forced him into it. He talked to me.

"Wanna go out there and see the stars?"

"Sure."

We went outside and sat down on the grass. I needed to make the most of this opportunity.

"You know, last time you saw me I was a bitch."

"Yeah, I remember that. I was shocked."

"Why shocked? Didn't you hate me already by then?"

"Hate you? I could never hate you, Brie. I thought you knew that. Even when we broke up, I was only doing everything I could do to let you be happy. I broke up with you because I knew you would leave anyway, you were in such a need for a music career. But if you left me when we were still dating, you'd never forgive yourself. I made sure you were free to take on the world light-headed. Of course I was hurt in the beginning, but I promised myself I would live my life just like you were living yours. I was sure that, when you got older and your life was set, you'd try to contact me again. I was waiting. I am still waiting, actually."

"You don't have to wait anymore. Life's like hell without you."

"Is it that easy? We were willing to give our relationship another chance and now, just 'cause we met again, we will do that? I think our careers will kind of stop us, Brie. Everybody thinks we're both taken. And it's been only days since we've become public, we can't just 'break up' with Zac and Chloe like this."

"Yes, we can. We can tell everybody that Troy and Gabriella know each other ever since high school, that they went out together when they were younger and then they broke up because of their careers. But when they met again at the after-party of Anywhere's premiere, they realized they couldn't stand being apart anymore. They've been in love with each other ever since they freaking met for the first time."

"That would be kinda rude, since we wouldn't be thinking about Zac and Chloe's feelings."

"Yes, we would. I mean, people would have to understand that you can't date someone if you're in love with someone else. We'd be kinda doing them a favor by leaving them. And I'd be also doing Vanessa a favor, because even though her manager agrees with mine and Zac's, she still wishes she could have her relationship in the public eye."

"How about we think about the situation later? We should just enjoy looking at the sky and being together right now."

He reached to my waist and pulled me as close to him as possible. I couldn't say anything, 'cause I knew if I ruined everything there wouldn't be another chance. He took in my scent, and I could tell he was grinning.

"God, I missed you so much, Brie. I don't know how I ever had the nerve to let you go. That isn't happening again. Ever."

Things were going pretty well, so I imagined it wouldn't be a problem if I said the three words that I had been waiting for so long to speak again.

"I love you."

He kissed my forehead, and I couldn't help but think of how much better his kiss felt than Zac's. Maybe it just feels better 'cause my heart prefers him.

"I love you too, Brie."

"Forever."

* * *

My life totally rocks. And people all around the world _still_ think I'm the happiest person ever. Well, now I am. I have everything it supposedly takes to have a perfect life.

I travel to Albuquerque twice a month to visit my family. I met my old friends from high school again and now we have group meetings twice a month too (I found out Taylor never gave up on me, she knows the lyrics for all of my songs!). I asked my manager if I could have one day off every week when I could relax and he agreed, so now I have a lot more energy. I did what I wanted and donated almost all my money, and now I have just what it takes for me to live my life. My latest album was released last week and it _rocks_, first on the Billboard 200 (YAY). But there's one thing that made my life freaking perfect. Do I really need to say what it is? ...That's what I thought.

We gave up on the lies and announced me and Troy were NOT with Zac and Chloe, respectively. Now the world's rooting for the 'it' singer and the Lakers' superstar, everybody loves us together. Of course they do, we are _perfect_ side by side and we know that since high school. I love Troy. I really do. More than any freaking thing in this world. And, for some miracle of God, he feels the same way about me.

My life's probably going to be worse again someday, but I truly believe I can make it better again, as long as Troy's by my side. And my family too. And my friends too (Taylor, Chad, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, Zeke, Jason, Zac, Vanessa, Brad and even Chloe, now that I know she's not interested in Troy). And my dog too (I love you, momma's baby).

My world turned upside down once again. There's no way I can know when it will happen again. I'll have to keep on living the present, ignoring the possibility of a bad future. And I have to stop being so neurotic. At least that's what Troy says. Oh well.

* * *

**I never thought it'd be so hard to write the ending. I had no idea how to do it! I'm still not satisfied with the last paragraph, but really, I tried to re-write it millions of times and it didn't work. I hope you liked the final result, though.**

**Thanks for reading!!!**

**Lee_**


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